Junior Member

Given the choice of a stock i7 8700 or 8700K with a mild OC. for a graphics workstation what would be the best option; is it worth the extra cost or is over clocking more beneficial to gamers and enthusiasts?
Assuming it would be worth over clocking, would the following spec be ok or would you suggest something else?
i7 8700K, Asus Rog Maximus X Hero, Corsair vengeance 16GB DDR4 (2666 to 3200?), on water (flexible tubing, spring clamps, no tempered glass, no rgb).

Golden Member

Given the choice of a stock i7 8700 or 8700K with a mild OC. for a graphics workstation what would be the best option; is it worth the extra cost or is over clocking more beneficial to gamers and enthusiasts?
Assuming it would be worth over clocking, would the following spec be ok or would you suggest something else?
i7 8700K, Asus Rog Maximus X Hero, Corsair vengeance 16GB DDR4 (2666 to 3200?), on water (flexible tubing, spring clamps, no tempered glass, no rgb).

I wouldn't overclock a workstation. And I wouldn't run liquid cooling in it either. I'm not sure you want a consumer grade CPU for that matter. A Xeon or Threadripper with ECC ram are better suited to that sort of machine.

Diamond Member

The price difference between the k and non k is less than the difference between the maximus and most boards. You could always get an even more expensive board, and then an 8400, if you want to max out silliness. I went with the prime A for my 8700k. Was almost half the price.

Diamond Member

Why go water over Noctua? Noctua seems like the best bet every time.
Insert any other top end cooler brand in there too, I use fans from others as well.
Silent fans are easier to setup than anything water

Member

Will your CPU need to work at 100% load a lot? Because if it will- 8700K with 95W TDP, even without overclocking, should stay at higher clocks- while 8700 will boost for a short time and then will go back to 65W TDP- which means reduced clocks.

Super Moderator

Will your CPU need to work at 100% load a lot? Because if it will- 8700K with 95W TDP, even without overclocking, should stay at higher clocks- while 8700 will boost for a short time and then will go back to 65W TDP- which means reduced clocks.

Both the 8700 and the 8700k will temporarily boost to their respective speeds (4.6 and 4.7 Ghz respectively). However, the 8700k has a higher base speed (3.7 Ghz vs 3.2 Ghz). That's why its a 95w CPU (that and the fact it is unlocked for higher speeds via overclocking). If a person is using a good after-market cooler, there really won't be much difference in temps and noise. Plus, both CPUs will actually drop down and run around 400 Mhz when the performance is not needed, so their power draw is significantly less during this period.

If there is a small price difference, it is my opinion to go with the 8700k because: 1. It's slightly faster out of the box. 2. It will have a much better resale value when it is time to do your next upgrade.